Promoter of New England Championship Wrestling and World Women's Wrestling shares his thoughts on the doings in both promotions as well as the wrestling world in general. You can now hear him every Saturday at 10 PM Eastern on "The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show" on Boston's 1510 The Zone!

Thursday, August 09, 2007

NECW TV Celebrates 100 Episodes

This week, NECW celebrates the 100th episode of our original Internet television broadcast, NECW TV.

It's an interesting show this week, featuring classic clips from past shows, current bouts and promos as we lead up to World Women's Wrestling this Sunday in Somerville, MA and the 7th anniversary of NECW, BIRTHDAY BASH 7: CAGED FURY at the National Guard Armory in Quincy, MA on Saturday night, August 18th.

I have a lot of pride in NECW TV (no pun intended, referring to the tag team of the same name) because it was a true innovation at the time in a business where innovations are few and far between.

NECW TV began in November 2004 as an attempt to create an alternate means to distribute a TV product for New England Championship Wrestling. Our other choice at the time was cable access, which has to be placed town by town and requires a lot of bicycling tapes or discs around. By going directly on line, we gave our Internet audience another way to follow our promotion and our fans attending our live events a way to stay engaged with NECW bteween shows. It also gave our talent the valuable experience of performing for television, as well as giving the booking structure and focus.

As soon as we started posting episodes, imitators started popping up. There are now dozens of independent companies that distribute shows on line, giving them an economical means to give voice to their product. Wrestling fans worldwide have been given an alternative to WWE and TNA. While it is not a substitute for conventional TV, it is a real means of getting significant exposure.

When I first posed the idea to my crew at the time, there were people who looked at me like I was nuts. "Who's going to watch wrestling on a computer?," they asked. NECW TV is currently seen by anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 viewers per week from over 60 countries.

Behind this 100 episode effort is a very dedicated crew. I thank my partners Matt West and Kyle White, along with talent coordinator George Carroll, local promoter Paul Richard, plus Bryan, Mike, Jonathan and entire NECW and WWW roster for keeping this vision alive and helping it grow into the great representation of our business it has become.

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About Me

Co-owner & Promoter of New England Championship Wrestling, along with its sister company, World Women's Wrestling.
Appeared on numerous TV specials about pro wrestling, including A&E's Unreal Story of Pro Wrestling and Biography: Andre The Giant: Larger Than Life and has written articles for the now-defunct WOW magazine.
A former theatre producer who also did publicity for Broadway shows on tour.